Since she was asleep, she could have done it. But, reporters still decided to create a lie about her. Tarshis states, “But reporters began to blame Catherine, printing lies that painted her as an irresponsible “hag” whose cow had kicked over a lantern while she was milking it” (Tarshis). The news came out that Catherine was the person who started the fire, and she became the scapegoat for the Chicago Fire. Even worse, many people believed that she started it because she was an immigrant. To close off, Catherine was blamed for the fire due to it starting in her barn, and it was also due to her being an immigrant. Conversely, the central idea of “A City Ready to Burn” by Murphy is that Chicago is an easily flammable city. For instance, “Many of the remaining buildings looked solid, but were actually jerry-built affairs; the stone or brick exteriors had wooden frames and floors, all topped with highly flammable tar or shingle roofs” (Murphy). Highly flammable tar paired with fast-burning wood is a major fire hazard. In addition, many buildings that claimed to be fireproof were really just another building built out of